UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged calm between India and Pakistan at the start of a visit to the region.

It is extremely important, given the military capability of both powers, that we do everything we can to calm the situation

Tony Blair

Tensions have soared between the two nuclear powers since a gun attack on the Indian parliament last month, which India blamed on Islamic militants it says have been supported by Pakistan.

India and Pakistan are still massing their armies each side of the border amid continuing reports of exchanges between them.

British officials have played down any suggestion that Mr Blair might play a peace-making role in the current confrontation, saying his visit was planned some time ago and he is not coming with any new initiatives.

But Mr Blair, who arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday, said: "It is extremely important, given the military capability of both powers, that we do everything we can to calm the situation.

Pakistani demonstrators set fire to an effigy of Indian leader

"It is obviously potentially very serious in its consequences for the stability of the region and of the wider world."

He spoke after Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said war with Pakistan was not imminent and he would do all he could to avoid it.

The Indian prime minister - now in Nepal's capital Kathmandu for a regional summit - said: "Efforts are being made to avoid war through diplomatic
channels.

"If that succeeds, there will be no need to opt for other alternatives."

Pakistan under pressure

However, Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh has said the meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) is not the place to discuss India-Pakistan relations.

And he said no request for a meeting on the sidelines of the conference had been made by his Pakistani counterpart, Abdul Sattar.

Pro-peace Pakistanis have also demonstrated

"It has not been the convention of SAARC to hold bilateral
affairs," he said.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is on his way to China - an ally for decades - for talks before the summit over the weekend.

India has threatened military action if Pakistan fails to crack down on militant groups operating from its territory.

Pakistan, however, denied involvement and said it would continue to provide moral support to Kashmiri separatists.

But General Musharraf is under intense international pressure to rein in the militants and is reported to have arrested about 100 followers of two groups India accuses of involvement in the Delhi attack.

He is also said to have acted on Wednesday to cut off Pakistani government support for several militant groups in Kashmir.